Guide to Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation

the contrary, they are offered as general guidelines that need to be assessed and applied in
particular regional contexts, each of which has its own unique combination of problems and
possibilities. In other words, the regional context will help to determine the precise mix of
organisations that need to be involved in the RIS3 process. The regional context is also the
appropriate context in which to decide who is best placed to lead the RIS3 process.
In terms of process, RIS3 design involves analyses, experimentation, debates and decisiontaking,
with wide participation of actors and experts, from within but also from outside the
region. This needs to be communicated, understood and acknowledged: it is a time-consuming
process that should be seen as an investment rather than a burden.
The most important types of organisation that need to be involved in the RIS3 process are public
authorities; universities and other knowledge-based institutions; investors and enterprises; civil
society actors; and international experts who can offer benchmarking and peer review services
for example. Figure 1 exemplifies a number of organisations belonging to each of the previous
categories, as identified by EURADA.
Source: EURADA
Figure 1 - The regional knowledge ecology
A criticism that was sometimes levelled at the RIS process was that it was prone to being
'captured' by traditional interest groups in the region, groups that were more interested in
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